Javaris Crittenton Murder Trial: First Atlanta Court Appearance Set For Friday

Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets star Javaris Crittenton has been returned to Atlanta to face trial for murder charges. Crittenton had been arrested in Los Angeles while seeking to board a plane back to Atlanta. He was detained in California and had to make a court appearance of some sort.

 He's expected to make a court appearance Friday in Atlanta. According to that Fox 5 Atlanta report, Crittenton's charges are homicide murder, aggravated murder, and intent to murder. Even though the victim wasn't his alleged target, he's still accused of purposefully firing a weapon at a person.

The Atlanta native and former local prep star has been accused of shooting and killing a young mother in southwest Atlanta while attempting to retaliate for a jewelry robbery. Law enforcement located him in Los Angeles several days later.

For more on Crittenton visit SB Nation NBA's StoryStream and Washington Wizards blog Bullets Forever.

New Javaris Crittenton Details: Jewelry Robbery, Flight To L.A.

Pieces of the latest Javaris Crittenton episode are starting to come together, and none of them sound very good for the former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets player and local prep basketball great who's accused of murdering a young mother in southwest Atlanta. Crittenton was arrested Monday night and is being held in Los Angeles for a court appearance this week. 

The Associated Press has details of the alleged jewelry robbery that supposedly led Crittenton to fire a weapon from a vehicle, accidentally hitting the victim. According to the report, Crittenton said he and a friend were held up on the morning of April 21 after leaving a barbershop. He said he handed over "a $25,000 black diamond necklace, a $30,000 black diamond watch, an iPhone and $25 cash," according to the report.

KABC-TV in Los Angeles adds that Crittenton purchased a flight ticket to Los Angeles from Atlanta on August 24, five days after the shooting, leading to a charge of federal violation of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, hence his prolonged stay in California before returning to Georgia.

Earlier this week, Atlanta police said Crittenton wasn't home when they searched his house shortly after the woman's death. The timeline they'd suggested made it sound like he was already gone from his home before August 24.

For more on Crittenton visit SB Nation NBA's StoryStream and Wizards blog Bullets Forever.

Javaris Crittenton Arrested In Los Angeles For Murder Charge

Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets and NBA guard Javaris Crittenton turned himself in to FBI agents and Orange County police Monday night before boarding a Delta flight to Atlanta. He'll eventually be turned over to local police and face murder charges for the alleged shooting death of 22-year-old Jullian Jones earlier this month.

Here's an obviously unpleasant video of Crittenton waiting handcuffed in the back of a car:

He may need to first appear in Los Angeles federal court before heading to Atlanta. I'd assume because he crossed all sorts of state lines, though whether he did so before he was wanted for murder could have something to do with the decision process.

We could be in for a long, developing story, with Crittenton's attorney swearing innocence and pointing out the native Atlantan turned himself in.

For more on Crittenton visit SB Nation NBA's StoryStream and Wizards blog Bullets Forever.

Javaris Crittenton Claims Innocence On Murder Charges, Surrendering To Atlanta Police

Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets player Javaris Crittenton will fly from Los Angeles to Atlanta to surrender to Atlanta police, according to a report in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. He's expected to arrive Tuesday morning, at which point he'll be arrested on charges of shooting and killing a woman while allegedly aiming for a jewelry thief.

His attorney, Brian Steel, told the AJC that Crittenton is innocent and wants to "clear his name."

Crittenton is wanted for the August 19 shooting of Jullian Jones, a 22-year-old mother of four. According to police, Crittenton shot her from a vehicle while trying to hit the perpetrator of an April robbery. Police have executed a search warrant on his home just south of Atlanta, but haven't yet come into contact with the former Atlanta prep star.

Nothing's going to bring Jones back, but you still find yourself hoping Crittenton didn't have any role in her death.

Javaris Crittenton Investigators Asking For Tips To Player's Location

Javaris Crittenton is already in a tremendous amount of trouble, but he seems to be piling on by fleaing Atlanta and forcing the FBI to organize a manhunt for him. According to Christian Boone of the Atlanta Journal Constitution, a federal arrest warrant has been issued for unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, which could only mean bad things for his involvement in a murder investigation.

(APD Maj. Keith) Meadows said Friday he was hopeful arrangements would be made with Crittenton to turn himself in, but that opportunity has expired.  Authorities say NBA journeyman, waived last fall by his fourth team in as many years, purchased a one-way airline ticket to Los Angeles last Wednesday. An FBI spokesman said Monday agents believe Crittenton remains in the Los Angeles area, where he has family and friends.

The Los Angeles division of the FBI is asking that any member of the public that has any information on Crittenton's whereabouts please come forward and help them find him. This is starting to look worse and worse for Crittenton, and the rest of this manhunt and investigation is not going to be pretty.

Javaris Crittenton's Whereabouts Still Unknown To Atlanta Police

Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets guard Javaris Crittenton, who has a warrant out for his arrest as a part of an investigation into the August 19 murder of a 22-year-old Atlanta mother, still hasn't made himself available to Atlanta police. At one point he was believed to be in Los Angeles, so the APD is working with the feds to coordinate search efforts with departments in other cities.

According to the Associated Press report linked above, Crittenton's Fayetteville, Georgia home ("three-story brick home with a manicured lawn and a small backyard") was searched by police last week.

Going by that timeline, Crittenton must have been a suspect almost immediately after the incident. And if he wasn't home then and hasn't yet checked back in, one could conclude he made himself scarce shortly after the young woman's death as well.

That doesn't sound good. He's still innocent, but ... man, none of that sounds good.

Javaris Crittenton Wanted For Murder, And That's More Shocking Than It Seems

Javaris Crittenton Drive-by Shooting Occurred Over Jewelry Robbery, According To Report

Former Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets star Javaris Crittenton is reportedly wanted for the August 19 shooting death of 23-year-old Jullian Jones, a mother of four. Saturday night, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution fleshed out the initial report by WSB-TV, adding that the southwest Atlanta shooting from a black Chevy Tahoe was an attempted retaliation for an April jewelry robbery and that Jones was not the intended target.

Jewelry. A mother of four. If the story as reconstructed by Atlanta police is true ... Goddammit, this is the dumbest thing ever. 

Crittenton has not yet been arrested. Atlanta law enforcement is working with the FBI to bring him in, according to the AJC -- it's believed he's currently in Los Angeles, where his pro basketball career began.

The 23-year-old Atlanta native was drafted in 2007's first round by the Los Angeles Lakers. Since leaving the Lakers in 2008, he's played for the Grizzlies and Wizards, in China and for a NBA D-League team. In better times, he was a McDonald's All-American and Mr. Georgia Basketball as a high school teammate of Dwight Howard at Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy.

Until this weekend, he was best known for an incident that occurred in Washington with Gilbert Arenas. You might've heard of it.

Javaris Crittenton Wanted In Julian Jones Murder Investigation

Former Georgia Tech guard Javaris Crittenton has a warrant for his arrest that is related to a shooting earlier this month. We have the details inside.